Hisashiburi
by WallofIllusion
Summary: Five years after the series takes place, Anzu is living her dreams as a dancer in New York. But what will happen when Yuugi comes to visit and the leader of the troupe gets jealous...?


**Hisashiburi**

Anzu Mazaki shouldered her dance bag and stood. "Bye, everyone," she said to the rest of those in the dressing room.

She was answered with a chorus of "bye"s. With another wave, she left the dressing room and entered the cold night air.

"Ahhh," she breathed, instantly refreshed. She was still hot from that night's performance, so the frigid atmosphere of New York felt excellent. Smiling, she spread her arms. There was nowhere she would rather be right now. She was a teacher's assistant at the greatest dance academy in New York, and she had just starred in her first major dance presentation. She was living her dream.

"Hey, Anzu."

The voice of the dance troupe's leader, Josh Garamond, broke through Anzu's thoughts. "Oh, hello, Garamond," she said, lowering her arms. "You did very well tonight."

"Yeah, you didn't do too poorly yourself. It's your first time for such a big role, isn't it?" Garamond asked, walking closer to her.

Anzu nodded. "It's so exciting," she said, certain there were stars in her eyes. "I have wanted to dance like this all my life."

Garamond moved closer still. "Yep, you did a good job," he repeated, putting his hands on Anzu's shoulders and massaging them.

Anzu took a step away, frowning. "I should be going," she said stiffly.

"No, why don't you—"

"I need to rest after that performance." Anzu spoke firmly, glaring at Garamond.

He held up his hands. "Fine, fine," he said. "But if you ever feel like going somewhere after a performance, I'd be happy to take you."

"I will consider it," Anzu replied, her acid tone revealing that she would do nothing of the sort. "Now, I'm going home. Good night."

She turned on her heel and marched away. She didn't like Garamond. He seemed to have a "thing" for her, as it was said in America, and no matter how many times she turned him down, it didn't matter. He was always pestering her to go out with him.

Caught up in worrying about Garamond, Anzu wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings until someone addressed her.

"Lost in thought?" the deep voice asked in Japanese.

Anzu gasped. The voice was familiar—but it couldn't possibly be—?! She whirled around to face the source of the voice. There in the shadows stood a man with violet eyes and hair that stood up in tri-colored spikes. It _was_ him! But… but that was impossible, wasn't it…?

"What, don't you remember my name?" the spiky-haired man asked with a grin. "It's only been two years, Anzu-chan."

"Y… Yuugi-kun?" Anzu said hesitantly. She still wasn't sure if it was him, or…

"Of course." The man stepped out of the shadows to walk beside her. Then, as the streetlight lit his face, Anzu knew. She swallowed a disappointed sigh, but Yuugi noticed anyway.

"Something wrong?"

"I—I thought you were the other Yuugi for a minute," Anzu admitted sheepishly. Of course it couldn't be the other Yuugi. He had vanished from the world… joined his father in the halls of the dead.

"Ah," said Yuugi wisely. "Well, I must admit that's rather flattering." But for all his light words, Anzu thought she saw him crumble on himself a little.

"I'm sorry," she apologized quickly. "You still miss him, don't you?"

After a slight pause, Yuugi again said, "Of course." His voice was quiet and sad. Then he shook himself and put a smile on. "I watched your performance!" he exclaimed. "It was excellent. You were perfect, Anzu-chan!"

Anzu laughed a little at the high praise. "No, I was far from perfect," she protested. "I messed up so many times I thought the audience must have noticed."

"I didn't," Yuugi said with a shake of his head.

"Honestly?"

"Yep. It looked perfect to me."

Anzu shrugged. "Well, that's nice to know." Then she shot a mock-glare at Yuugi. "It also would have been nice to know you were in town. We could have had dinner together or something."

"Well, I'm kinda hungry right now. Wanna get something?"

"Yuugi-kun, it's past midnight," Anzu said. But her stomach gave a growl at the suggestion of food. She was hungry from dancing.

Yuugi simply shrugged off Anzu's statement. "I'm sure there are still places open," he said. "After all, this city never sleeps. Haven't you heard the song?" He spread his arms like a Broadway actor and started singing in English. "I wanna wake up in the city that doesn't sleep, New York, Neeeeeeeeeew Yooooooooooork!"

Anzu tried to force a sigh, but soon she started laughing. "You're crazy, Yuugi-kun," she said, shaking her head. "And you're going to wake everyone up."

"But this city never—"

"Let me rephrase. You will _disturb_ everyone nearby—whether they're sleeping or not," Anzu interrupted jokingly. Then she said, "I guess we can go somewhere for a midnight snack."

"Somewhere with hamburgers?" Yuugi asked eagerly.

Anzu nodded, giving another laugh. "That's right, you like those, don't you? Hmm, ever been to an American McDonald's?"

Yuugi's eyes lit up. "Lead on, Anzu!" he exclaimed.

As they turned a corner, Yuugi said, "Remember your job at Burger World?"

Anzu rolled her eyes. "Do I ever," she said. "I am never doing that again. Waiting tables has got to be the most stressful job on the planet. Ugh." She paused for a minute. "You and Jonouchi-kun followed me there that one day."

"'Tell and you die,'" Yuugi remembered. "You wrote that on our burgers in ketchup."

"I was nervous. I wasn't supposed to be working there."

"Yeah, well…" Yuugi looked off to the side. "Then that convict came in and took you for a hostage… And then the other me…" He trailed off.

"The other Yuugi saved me," Anzu finished for him. "That was the first time I heard his voice." _Which I fell in love with_, she added mentally. _A crush I never really got over…_

"The other me was always so strong," Yuugi said enviously.

"Y-You're strong too—"

"Not like he was." Yuugi sighed. "Anyway…" Then he spotted the McDonald's. "Hey, there it is!" He broke into a run.

Anzu followed at a slower pace, her legs beginning to complain from all the dancing she'd done that night.

"Hey, Anzu," said Garamond's voice from behind her.

Anzu spun around in surprise. Garamond was leering at her. "What are you up to?" he asked.

"My friend from Japan is here," she explained. "We were going to have some McDonald's together…"

"So your old friend is more important to you than the leader of your dance troupe? You'd rather have dinner with her?"

"Him," Anzu corrected immediately. "Also, I—"

"_Him_? A guy?!"

Garamond wasn't that much taller than Anzu, but he suddenly seemed to tower over her. Everyone in the troupe knew about his bad temper—and now he was angry, dangerously so.

But Anzu wouldn't let herself be intimidated. "Yes, Yuugi is a 'guy'," she said, annoyed. She turned to go, but Garamond caught her wrist.

"A boyfriend, I suppose?" he hissed, twisting Anzu's arm. She gasped in pain and raised her other hand to slap his face. But he caught that one and then pushed her to the ground.

"S-stop!" she cried, trying to stand up. "What are you _doing_?!"

Garamond kicked Anzu, sending her sprawling again. "Your loyalty should be to the troupe!" he shouted, continuing to kick her. "And that means you should be loyal to _me_, not to some idiot from a country thousands of—"

"Excuse me," said Yuugi's voice in what seemed to be a calm tone, "but I would appreciate it if you would stop that." Anzu looked behind her to see him standing there, hands in his pockets, looking very casual.

"Ah, so you must be Anzu's 'friend,' spikehead?" Garamond gave Anzu one last insolent kick, and then stopped.

"Yes, I am Anzu-chan's friend," Yuugi answered, holding his hand out to Anzu so she could stand. She took it and pulled herself up with a grateful nod. In a flawlessly polite tone, Yuugi continued, "May I inquire as to who you are?"

"This is Josh Garamond," Anzu said, panting slightly and glaring at the other man. "He's the leader of my dance troupe." Then, daringly, she added, "Unfortunately."

"Why you—!" Garamond reached out to hit Anzu again, but Yuugi stopped his hand with a nonchalant motion.

"I believe I asked you to stop that, Garamond-san," he said, and now there was a flicker of anger behind his tone.

"I believe I don't care," Garamond simpered, sneering. He made a fist and tried to punch Yuugi, but Yuugi sidestepped the blow and bent into a half-crouch.

"You don't want to go there," he said, as if stating simple fact. "I don't particularly like fighting, and I doubt you want to be hurt."

"Well, would you listen to the spike-headed freak!" Garamond laughed. "Whatcha gonna do, poke me to death with your hair? You're the one who shouldn't go there! Why don't you just go eat your hamburger and let me continue my talk with Anzu?"

Anzu heard Yuugi sigh. "Maybe you should go inside, Anzu-chan."

Uncertainly, Anzu backed away, then looked at Yuugi.

"It'll be fine," he encouraged in Japanese. "Get me a hamburger, would you?"

Still hesitant, Anzu went into the McDonald's and ordered, every few seconds trying to glance through the windows. But the glare made it impossible for her to see what was going on, so she just had to wait.

But not for long. Within a minute, Yuugi was at the door, unscathed. Anzu's eyes widened. "Y-Yuugi-kun?! Are you…?"

"Daijoubu," he said, not even sounding breathless. "Garamond-san is unconscious, and he might be a little sore tomorrow, but other than that, he's fine. Oh, and I don't think he'll be picking on you anymore." He gave a wan smile and sat down at the table Anzu had chosen.

The two started on their hamburgers silently, each in their own thoughts. Anzu was amazed. She hadn't known Yuugi could fight—or that he even had any interest in such a thing. She peered at him, again wondering if he could be the other Yuugi. But no, the pensive expression on his face as he stared at the window was definitely the Yuugi she had known all her life.

Then Yuugi gave a sigh. "I knew Jonouchi-kun or Honda-kun should have come," he muttered.

"Hmm?"

Yuugi shook his head and shrugged. "Oh, it would have been easier for them to do that," he explained. "I don't really like to fight, even if it's sometimes necessary. I let them teach me, but I was hoping not to have to use it often."

Anzu nodded sympathetically. "Things like that were always hard for you," she said. "That was something I liked more about you than your other self. He was always so willing to use violence to administer 'justice.' And I liked him, but sometimes he scared me."

Yuugi stared at her with an unreadable expression for a moment. "Really?" he asked.

Anzu nodded again. "Some of the 'penalty games' were… disturbing. Not to mention the games he would make up in the first place…" She trailed off.

"Are you sad he's gone?" Yuugi questioned suddenly.

"Of course I am," Anzu replied, not entirely sure why Yuugi was asking. "He was my friend."

"But didn't you… didn't you love him?"

Anzu gave an embarrassed cough before replying, "Yeah."

Yuugi had a hard time getting the next sentence out as he looked away and blushed slightly. "May I ask why?"

It was then that Anzu remembered Yuugi's long-time crush on her. It seemed like he still had it. _It must be painful for him to talk about these things!_ she realized. _Asking me why I had a crush on his other self…_

"I don't really know why," she answered, and it was only a little fib. She did know why, even if she thought the reason was sort of stupid: it was because the other Yuugi had seemed so strong and brave. Much more so than the Yuugi she knew.

"And… do you think there's a chance…" Yuugi was struggling to speak even more than before. "Do you think you could ever fall in love with me?"

Anzu looked at her violet-eyed friend, thinking of how she'd always felt about him—as no more than a friend, a very good one of course, but no more than that—and how that feeling was a little different tonight. The way Yuugi had saved her from Garamond had reminded her of the other Yuugi—and that did appeal to Anzu. But to fall in love with Yuugi because he reminded her of his other self… that didn't seem honest.

Sighing, Anzu stood. "I don't know if I could fall in love with you," she said truthfully. "Tonight, I think, there was… something more than usual." She quickly wrote the phone number to her hotel room on a napkin, handing it to Yuugi. "Whatever happens, though," she continued, "I'm glad you came to see me tonight. Whether as a friend or… more than that… I'm glad I got to see you again."

She walked slowly out of the restaurant… stopping only to give Yuugi a quick, impulsive kiss on the cheek.


End file.
